Guest Post: Summer Fun – Enjoying the season while saving money

Today’s Guest Post is written by Laina @ Abundant Food Savings! Laina writes about everything from Restaurant deals to how to score Free Food…Her site is loaded with an amazing info about EVERYTHING! On with Laina’s Post:

Many traditional summer activities like amusement parks, water slides and blockbuster movie openings strain the family budget. At the same time long days out of school quickly turn kids from carefree to bored and restless. How can you keep them entertained without spending the college fund? Happily summer is also the season of free concerts, outdoor movies, free museum admission days, and an array of special free programs for kids. Here is a selection of programs local and national including a few you can enjoy all year long.

MOVIES

Regal Entertainment Group’s annual Free Family Film Festival begins June 16th or June 23rd at theaters nationwide. Each Tuesday and Wednesday at 10 a.m. two family friendly films are offered on a first come first serve basis. Films this season include Charlotte’s Web, Kung Fu Panda, Horton Hears a Who, Inkheart and Madagascar 2.

Cinemark’s Summer Movie Clubhouse runs for 10 weeks beginning June 2 at a cost of $1 per show or 10 for $5. Shows begin at 10 a.m. Tuesdays or Wednesdays check your local theater for individual schedules HERE.

Movies Under the Stars movie nights in the park are everywhere and almost always free, bring a picnic, lawn chairs and enjoy a relaxed viewing experience. Yahoo-Upcoming is a great search engine for events nationwide handy not only for finding events at home but to find fun events when you travel.

REDBOX and DVDplay offer $1 rentals every day but on the first Monday of each month Redbox releases a code for a free rental one per credit or debit card.

BASEBALL

The great American pastime is a great bargain at Minor League parks which feature reasonable ticket prices, family friendly theme nights, lawn seating, inexpensive concessions and in partnership with Kraft Singles a Buy One Get One Free ticket offer.

Tuesday’s from May 12 to September 1, 2009 bring a Kraft Singles package wrapper to the box office to get a free ticket when you purchase a ticket. My local Rivercats team tickets start at just $7. See the details and teams HERE.

BOWLING

Bowling centers across the country are participating in the Kids Bowl Free program allowing kids to bowl up to 2 games per day every day all summer. You do need to register and will receive coupons via email each Sunday. Optional family passes are available for $23.95 so mom and dad can bowl two games per day too.

MUSEUMS

Many museums offer free admission on select days usually during the week and with the kids out of school you can take advantage of the offer.

Bank of America customers can get free admission to over 100 museums, zoo, gardens and science centers on the first full weekend of each month.

Target Sponsors Free Sundays at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco among others the first Sunday of each month

MUSIC

There are so many opportunities to enjoy free music from every possible genre over the summer. Two that are fun enough to build a day around -

Barnes and Noble offers story times for young children and encourage older kids to read over the summer by awarding them with a free book when they read any 8 books of their choice and complete the Summer Reading journal.

The Scholastic Summer Challenge offers an online reading club option where kids join teams to log minutes, take book based polls and quizzes and get rewarded for their efforts with points for Smarty Cards that can redeemed for items like board games, Club Penguin memberships, Webkinz, Wii games and DVDs.